10 Ways To Walk In Love
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us… (Ephesians 5:2a, ESV)
In just a short phrase or two, Paul, writing to the Ephesian church, offers us one of the greatest challenges in Scripture. He tells us to love. But it’s not just any love; it’s a love that should mirror something beyond our natural capacity.
The simile is clear. Our daily disposition should be a love that emulates the kind of sacrifice-laden, others-oriented, agape-saturated love originating from Christ. How do we display that in the day-to-day, though? Here are ten ways, though there are certainly more.
- Verbally express your love for the Lord. When was the last time you spoke the words, “I love you,” directly to your Heavenly Father?
- Verbally express your love for others. For those closest to you, be sure you tell them about your love for them. Don’t just count on your actions to communicate it.
- Bear a burden for someone around you. Fulfill a need that might be difficult for others to handle. Do it with joy!
- Give someone a fresh start. Isn’t that what the love displayed in the resurrection was about – renewal? Can you forgive someone? Help someone get back on their feet? Clear the slate with an employee, colleague, or neighbor and call it a “new day”?
- Help a friend out of habitual sin. Gently confront them and pledge your support and encouragement to help them find victory in Christ. Love sometimes means saying and doing hard things.
- Offer a gift or service to the downtrodden. Serve at a rescue mission, hand out snacks to homeless people downtown, or lead a Bible study for a recovery ministry. As you do it, express the love of Christ along the way.
- Be abundantly generous. Do something a person would never expect. Better yet, let it be an anonymous act.
- Offer encouraging words. Love builds up. Animosity and frustration tear down. Be a loving builder!
- Check your decisions. Ask yourself if it would be loving or harmful to make a particular choice.
- Bless an enemy. Is there someone who has set themselves up against you? Express love toward them in tangible ways, and pray for them. Rinse and repeat.
Love can be difficult and must be practiced often. It may not be reciprocated. Nevertheless, it reflects Christ and the gospel. So, love strong, love hard, and love well, my brothers and sisters. Let me bookend these brief words with another quip from Paul:
Let all that you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14, ESV)
In Christ,
